60 years for highest-ranking Latin King gang leader

Annie SweeneyTribune reporter

Augustin “Tino” Zambrano, considered by authorities as the highest-ranking Latin King in the country, was sentenced to 60 years in prison today in federal court for orchestrating violence and drug dealing in Chicago.

In seeking the 60-year prison term, federal prosecutors called Zambrano “the Larry Hoover of the Latin Kings,” a reference to the imprisoned head of the Gangster Disciples.

Last April a federal jury convicted Zambrano, 51, of racketeering conspiracy and multiple federal charges.

U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle imposed the maximum sentence today after Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Porter argued to hold Zambrano accountable for numerous shootings and several murders committed by Latin Kings members.

“Your sentence should ring out on the streets loud and clear,” Porter said to Norgle.

Porter urged that the judge send a message that those who run street gangs are just as responsible as those – often younger members – who commit the violence that stings Chicago’s neighborhoods.

“He is the Larry Hoover of the Latin Kings,” Porter said. “He, with that responsibility, has all the accountability for all the shootings and the violence.”

Norgle discussed Zambrano’s long criminal history of arrests and convictions for violent offenses that started at age 17 when Zambrano, who now has flecks of gray in his dark hair, was sentenced to 180 days in jail for a gun violation.

“It should have been clear to Mr. Zambrano that he had better adjust his behavior or he was headed for difficult times,” Norgle said. “But he did not.”

Several Zambrano family members lined the benches in Norgle’s courtroom. One wept as his sentence was debated. Norgle also acknowledged that numerous letters from relatives praised Zambrano as loving and caring to his family. One referred to him “Uncle Tino” and said he was nothing like the man described in news accounts.

The prosecution case, built over eight years, focused on the gang's activities in the Little Village neighborhood, the heart of Chicago's Mexican-American community. But evidence at the trial also showed Zambrano’s reach as the gang's "corona," or leader, went beyond that.

Undercover recordings played at the trial included members talking about how the gang's leaders in other states, including New York and Texas, followed policies ordained by the Little Village faction.

But much of the six-week trial focused on the gang's violence and drug dealing in Chicago. Prosecutors relied on gang informants who made the secret recordings.

Former members testified about the strict rules, formally laid out in a constitution and rule book that they were required to follow. The testimony showed they had to defend their turf with guns and be ready to fire at rivals. In one instance, a musician in Little Village for a performance was shot while he and his friends drove through the neighborhood.

Recordings also captured the violence, including a graphic black-and-white video showing one Latin King being pummeled and stomped by fellow members during a "violation," or gang punishment.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors hammered home their message that none of the violence happened randomly.

"The Latin Kings were a nation," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy DePodesta during closing arguments. "It had a constitution and it had laws. Individuals who broke those laws were punished. They had soldiers ... and the agenda of the nation was carried out in the neighborhoods."